5 children found dead in water tank
Staff Correspondent
It was a fatal day out for babies. A water tank of an under-construction building proved a death trap for five playmates, all below 7, in Uttara yesterday noon. A shroud of mystery cloaked the death of the five children together in a single incident that shocked the neighbourhood of Azampur to the hilt. Most parents of the victims -- a toddler of 1 year and 3 months among them -- believe their children slipped into the tank by accident after they left home at 10:00am to play out. The victims came from four next-door families that were shaken to the core by a search that ended in harrowing scenes of the children floating dead in the four feet deep water of the 15 feet by 15 feet tank. The parents carried out the hectic search as none of the families found their children around even after they announced lost-child messages on loudspeakers about an hour. Like other days, Sonia, 7, her brother Jamil, the youngest of the victims, Mahmuda, 4 years and six months, Tamanna, 5, and Russell, 6, came out of their homes after breakfast, but did not return home alive. "I saw my daughter playing when I came out for work," sobbed Mujibar Rahman, father of Sonia and Jamil. Sonia's mother Jayeda -- her voice thick with emotion -- said her daughter had breakfast with her and left home with her brother. "I searched all around, went to the tank and found its lid open. I churned the water with a stick and saw slippers inside to my horror," said Jamal, father of Mahmuda -- in a daze. Russell's mother, Sheuli Begum is too shocked to believe it was just a slip into the water-filled tank and death. "How could all drop to death in one place," Sheuli, wife of a grocer, said in a gesture of agony. "I was looking for Russell, called him by name again and again but did not find him. He had breakfast with me before he left," said Sabrina, aunt of Russell, who went to visit her. State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar, visiting the aggrieved, described the death of the children as a tragic accident. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Ashraful Huda said: "It was an accident no doubt, but we are investigating whether the building owner had any neglect." The commissioner also said the parents got back the bodies without autopsy, describing it as an accident. Deputy Commissioner of DMP's North Zone Golam Rasul told The Daily Star that one of the children might have slipped into the water first and the rest plunged to death in their efforts to save their playmate. The families received the bodies for burial from Uttara Police Station without post-mortem as a magistrate allowed them on request.
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